On August 1, 2013 the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed HR419 aka the Taiwan Policy Act (TPA).

The TPA was introduced on January 25, 2013 by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and co-chairs of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Gerald Connolly (D-VA), John Carter (R-TX) and Albio Sires (D-NJ) “to strengthen and clarify the commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan.”

The TPA was then passed unanimously on April 25 2013 by the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

It is a comprehensive bill that addresses over a dozen different aspects of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship, and updates the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) to reflect the new realities in the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. The TPA builds on the TRA (which has functioned effectively as the cornerstone of US-Taiwan relations over the past three decades). It does not amend or supersede the TRA.

The TPA had been introduced during the previous 112th Congress, and was subsequently passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, but had not made it to the floor by the time Congress adjourned for the year in the fall of 2012.

At the hearing, Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) lauded the close U.S.-Taiwan relationship and emphasized the Free Trade Agreement provision in the bill.

Introducer of the bill, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) said: “Taiwan is an important friend and ally of the United States, and should be treated as such.”

Taiwan Caucus co-chair Gerry Connolly (D-VA) emphasized that “The U.S. needs to be clear in the actions it takes in Taiwan’s defense, and make it known that the future of Taiwan needs to be resolved peacefully.”

Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) who was a missionary in the Taiwan in the mid-seventies said that, after Israel, he considered Taiwan the strongest ally of the US and that “Taiwan is such a strong democracy that the U.S. should preserve such a strong ally.”

FAPA President Mark Kao, Ph.D. says: “With the ever-expanding territorial ambitions of China, the U.S.-Taiwan alliance becomes more and more important. The TPA addresses that concern. Overall, the TPA is one of the most significant Taiwan bills over the past decades and, if enacted into law, will greatly bolster Taiwan’s ability to preserve its freedom and independence.”

Dr. Kao concludes: “The next hurdle for the bill is passage on the floor of the House to be followed by introduction in the Senate where the bill has to follow a similar path. We at FAPA will mobilize all our members all over the United States to help ensure that this critically important bill becomes law at the earliest opportunity.”